Seeking to create a more peaceful tone in the industry, the National Wooden Pallet & Container Association (NWPCA) and iGPS, the all-plastic pallet pooler, have settled lawsuits filed against each other in federal district court. A PR battle turned into a legal dispute when iGPS sued NWPCA and its president, Bruce Scholnick in December 2010 claiming the pallet association had initiated a smear campaign to spread false and deceptive statements about iGPS’ plastic pallets.

Particularly, the case focused on a press release that NWPCA published that gave the impression that iGPS pallets were the possible cause of an alleged contamination of butter in certain Texas stores. The lawsuit called the NWPCA the “attack dog for the wooden pallet industry.”

The NWPCA responded with a counter lawsuit against iGPS and the association called for the wooden pallet industry to help fund the defense of the association and its leadership. A number of private individuals/companies helped fund the NWPCA response.

Over the last several months it has become clear that it was in everyone’s best interest to settle. The industry may have become less willing to fund the NWPCA counter lawsuit while iGPS certainly needed to focus efforts on getting back stray pallets, improving customer service, and regaining positive momentum in the marketplace. A protracted legal battle over a press release was not likely to solve any of these problems.

Both parties reached a confidential settlement on Nov 8, 2011 to end all the legal disputes between the two parties. Details of the agreement were not released but it appears that neither party had to admit to any particular wrongdoing.

Bruce Scholnick, president of the NWPCA, said, “We are pleased and iGPS is pleased with the outcome.” He added, “It’s better to focus on selling pallets than trying to beat each other up in court.”

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